1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus and method for transmitting a still image file, and more particularly to a transmitter apparatus and method for selectively converting and transmitting a still image file in a desired format compatible with a control command received from an external apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technical standards which cover techniques of transmitting a still image file or a moving image file stored in removable media in a digital video camera to an external device such as a personal computer have been proposed.
One such standard is the AV/C Camera Storage Subunit 1.0 formulated by the 1394 Trade Association, which is a standardization organization related to the IEEE 1394 standards.
The basic specifications of the AV/C Camera Storage Subunit 1.0 are detailed in TA document 1999036, AV/C Camera Storage Subunit 1.0.
The AV/C Camera Storage Subunit 1.0 has a drawback in that an external apparatus cannot request that a still image file be transmitted with a modified or converted resolution or image quality.
A still image file complying with the JPEG-2000 standard (hereinafter referred to as a JPEG-2000 file) featuring a resolution progressive function or an image quality progressive function thus is not effectively used.
In addition to the JPEG-2000 file, a still image featuring a resolution progressive function or the image quality progressive function defined by the JPEG-2000 standard suffers from this drawback.